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NASCAR President Unfurls Uncharacteristic Superstitions Amid Hopes of Ryan Blaney’s Championship Repeat

Published 02/23/2024, 11:48 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Often, we see sportspeople get themselves involved in unfounded beliefs or superstitions. This can be real for any sport. NASCAR, too, does not take a backseat. President Steve Phelps reveals an incident that possibly displays belief and confidence from the reigning Cup Series champion. Yes, you guessed it right. Ryan Blaney got himself involved in a similar activity. The nature of his confidence is offbeat, though.

You will be surprised to know that this involves his girlfriend, Gianna Tulio. What possible act of superstition did Blaney get himself into that made the NASCAR President talk about it?

Ryan Blaney decides to revisit a restaurant on a special occasion

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On a Spotify episode of ‘NASCAR Live’, President Steve Phelps sits down to discuss a lot with Alex Hayden. Amidst the series of questions, Hayden asked Phelps if he possessed any superstitious beliefs or rituals, for that matter. Phelps replied that he did not possess any, but brought up an interesting story about Ryan Blaney.

Phelps discussed how Blaney requested that he book a table in a restaurant in the town for Valentine’s Day last year. He planned to bring his girlfriend, Gianna, there. “So last year I got a call from Ryan Blaney, and he said there’s a restaurant in town and he wanted to bring Gianna for Valentine’s Day to this restaurant… I did, I paid for his meal.”

 

Phelps kept his request, spoke to the restaurant owner, booked a table for them, and even paid for their meal. There is nothing unusual as of now. Steve Phelps sensed the superstition regarding this when Blaney called him again this year a couple of weeks ago for the same request.

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“So he called me a couple of weeks ago, (saying) ‘Hey can you get me a reservation at the cellar again?’ And I said ‘Absolutely’. So I actually went there last night, and the superstition like listen I have to buy a meal again, so that we gotta start things off, its a repetition thing, right?” said Phelps. Needless to say, Phelps found this whole incident hilarious. However, Ryan Blaney did not forget to thank him for the efforts that he put in for him.

Blaney to shape NASCAR’s future?

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NASCAR Cup Series champions use their platform and power to shape the required changes in their own ways. Defending champion Ryan Blaney, too, decided to be the leader in his own way. He said, “I think that’s something I might do a little bit more is maybe bringing up things that I think are important for this sport and bringing them up more, whether it’s internally with NASCAR or if it gets to doing them externally in the public, then maybe I have to, but I’m never going to be one to have a voice just to have a voice.”

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Read More: Ryan Blaney Vowed Retribution as He Failed to Find a Helping Hand in the Daytona 500

Apart from that, the 30-year-old features as a main character in the Netflix NASCAR series this year. Even if we don’t know what Blaney plans, we know for sure that it works by revolutionizing the sport in its own way.

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Written by:

Mamata Mukherjee

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Mamata Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Combining her love for writing and motorsports she has created some interesting and in-depth stories on drivers like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Coming to ES with 3 years of experience in the field of writing, Mamata feels right at home in her role as a NASCAR Journalist.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta